To keep DD home from school?

[BurtTheDurt]

I’ve posted before regarding the death of DDs headmaster and the many remembrance / memorial events her school has had.

Anyway, there is to be a dedication of a block at the school to him (it’s a renaming of an old block), and it’s to be a half-day event with the school taking an early lunch at 11.30 ready for the unveiling and speeches from 12.30 until 3pm. The event takes place outside on what is supposed to be the hottest day of the year. There will be no shade and the kids are to wear full uniform, no hats and no bottles of water visible. DD will be very near the front as her surname is at the start of the alphabet.

I don’t want her to go and have to sit in the heat in a shirt, blazer and trousers for hours without being able to drink anything. She sometimes suffers from nosebleeds when it’s hot and has really bad hayfever at the moment.

Shall I just keep her at home that day?

I'm in Australia- 27 degrees wouldn't register as a hot day here, nor in many parts of the world.

Sunscreen and a hat, she'll be fine. She can drink water before and after.

If you don't like the idea, keep her home. But it's really not a health issue.

My child had a party outside on a day when it was 43 degrees. To my surprise everyone came and had a great time.

Did you not think to read the OP before posting? It clearly states no hats to be allowed

@rainbowunicorn sunscreen then. It's 27 for an hour and a half. She's hardly going to die of heat stroke.

OP, check the UV rating where you are. If it's above the recommended range then you have some grounds to raise with the school.

If everyone seems it unsuitable I would think that it is more than likely unsuitable.

"If everyone seems it unsuitable I would think that it is more than likely unsuitable."

Maybe. But at the moment it's being deemed 'unsuitable' based on gossip and hearsay via the kids.

It’s 3 hours… and have you missed the part where OP says daughter suffers with hayfever and will be sitting in grass the whole time?….

Only people who have never had hayfever will be brushing this off as just a ‘cover in suncream and send her in!’

Children aren't props to be used for someone's photo op.

For anyone who is interested..

I spoke to the school this morning and they pretty much confirmed everything DD and pals said, other than it might be slightly less time but it will still be full uniform with blazers, no hats, no water bottles and not necessarily any shade. They are ‘advising students to wear sun cream’ and that’s pretty much it.

The sunniest part of the day with no shade or water, that would be a no from me.

Ridiculous

After lots of responses saying that DD might be exaggerating to get a day off I was half expecting it to be the case but apparently not. There’s been some recent incidents of students fainting (not just from overheating but still) so I think they are being quite foolish here.

i don’t think a school could make this type of event mandatory surely. If so no wonder schools get a bad rep for stopping a lower income family from an annual holiday by forcing it in the school holidays which are out of some family’s budgets. Seems very unfair to mandate non-core education events and not provide an alternative to students to read, work on projects or essays ect.

I was amazed when I helped on a school trip last summer when it was around 30 degrees . Despite there being indoor areas it was 80% outside. No shade and water bottles were locked in a room (with bags) until lunch.

At lunch which was on a field in direct Sun my son (who had had sun cream applied that morning) was going red so I reapplied his. Other children were told if they had some in their bag they could put it on them selves (6 year olds)

Lesson learnt about how much schools care about Sun safety.

I’m normally very pro-attendance, going to things even if you don’t want to and just getting on with it.

But that’s an absurd amount of remembrance events, length of event (I suspect it could be condensed to well under an hour - how much is there to say?!) and I would not tolerate my kids being used as political props. Add in the frankly dangerous suggestion that hats and water be unavailable for several hours in full sun and I’d definitely allow my DC to skip it.

Drop her in for morning registration and then just collect her during the early lunch.

its ridiculous of the school to do this.

You need to trust the school on this, because whether you believe it or not they do actually know how to properly care for hundreds of pupils.

I couldn’t do it. I would get sun stroke. I suffer from heat very easily. My dd would manage as she seems to cope with the sun. My son is a bit like me though copes better.

I would be keeping my children home. It is inhumane to not allow them to take their blazers off and not wear a hat, let alone not having water or even providing shade. Sun cream does not stop sun stroke

Not always. In this case it’s about the school looking good. I mean, why else would children have to wear thick blazers in full sun?

You couldn’t have been more wrong.

The event was earlier this afternoon. I kept DD off today. At about 2.30pm she had a sneaky FaceTime call from a friend who was in the office after feeling incredibly faint during the ceremony, she showed DD there were at least another 7 or 8 children also there, all sipping water using cold packs. I’m glad I trusted my instincts and kept her off especially as she had a nosebleed very early this morning anyway.

Good for you OP. I asked my dh what he would have done and he was shocked and said surely that’s child endangerment!

I don't blame you
My mum kept me off when sports day was all outdoors, no shade and not allowed inside
I'm a pale redhead who obviously burns and overheats easily
She said a hat was no substitute for shade and it was ridiculous to have me in full sun for a day

As I understand it, the issue is that Uk/European heatwaves come with a lot more humidity than places like Australia, meaning it feels hotter than it is. There is also then little relief as our buldings are built to keep heat inside due to the weather for the rest of the air. So I don’t believe you are making a valid comparison, sorry.

Op has done the right thing.

You’ve done the right thing OP. Sometimes institutions make bad decisions. I’m certain most of her teachers would have done the same as you if they thought they could get away with it!

Very dramatic.

Is it? Or am I just literally explaining what happened? You made a point that was proved wrong.